No Sale: Helicopter Technologies Building Buyer Backs Out

July 10, 2008

The sale of the Helicopter Technologies building in Century will not take place this week, NorthEscambia.com has learned.

“I will not be purchasing the building,” John O’Neill  III told NorthEscambia.com late Wednesday.

O’Neill’s company, Shellco of Pensacola, Inc., was negotiating the purchase of the Helicopter Technologies building the Century Industrial Park. At Monday night’s meeting of the Century Town Council, Mayor Freddie McCall said that Shellco was expected to close the deal by Friday. He told the council that Shellco was an investment company that was working on a deal with an electric car manufacturing company.

“Basically, the fellow that owned the company told us that he owned all the property around the building, when in fact he does not,” O’Neill said. “Right now, this deal is just not going to happen.”

McCall said that a clause in Helicopter Technologies’ contract with the town gave the town the option to “take back” three lots around the building. That would, if effect, lower the acreage with the building from about 20 acres to just five, he said.

O’Neill also express concerns that the legal agreements surrounding the building would essentially give Century too much control over any business in the building.

“As a potential investor, I had no idea that the city of Century would become my partner,” O’Neill said.

The Town of Century currrently holds the mortage on the building. McCall requested and was granted council approval Monday night to allow the town’s attorney to begin “emergency foreclosure” proceedings against Helicopter Technologies  in the event the building sale did not take place this week.

When NorthEscambia.com contacted Mayor McCall late Wednesday, he had not been informed that building deal had fallen through.

“I was in hopes that we (the town) would have our money by Tuesday. I’m disappointed” McCall said. “I don’t know about the future. I looks like we may have to foreclose.”

It appears that many of the contents of the Helicopter Technologies building are also for sale. Listings on pensacola.craiglist.com that were posted Monday morning indicate that the company is having a “Office Equipment and Furniture Sale” and a “Huge Tool and Equipment Sale” this week. (Click the blue links to see the Craigslist listings.)

The building was sold to Georges Van Nevel and Helicopter Technologies in 2001.

In  September of 2007, a FH1100 helicopter refurbished by Helicopter Technologies crashed near Hosston, Louisiana. The helicopter had been picked up by its new owners at Helicopter Technologies in Century shortly before the crash.

nevelblg10.jpgThen on the morning of January 9, federal officials raided the Helicopter Technologies building in Century, seizing records. Van Nevel was kept off the property during the raid by sheriff’s deputies. In the photo to the left, Van Nevel is being stopped from entering the property by sheriff deputies. (NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photo, click to enlarge.)

“Van Nevel is suspected of improperly refurbishing helicopters and helicopter parts, selling unapproved aircraft parts, performing improper repairs on helicopters and misleading the aviation community by false advertisements,” said federal documents obtained by NorthEscambia.com on the day of the raid. Click the photos at the left to read portions of the federal search warrants. (NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photos, click to enlarge.)

Van Nevel lost most of his employees at that time, and also lost his Federal Aviation Administration certificates that allowed him to continue to refurbish helicopters.

But during an exclusive interview inside the Helicopter Technologies building, Van Nevel told NorthEscambia.com in February that “I will recover…I am not leaving Century.”

During that factory tour, he showed us a small model of a military helicopter that he says would save the government a lot of money, being cheap and easy to produce. It was an impressive looking model, ominous in appearance like an Apache helicopter. He said he was working toward a military contract to produce the helicopter.

But now Van Nevel is in France, at least according to what McCall told the Century council Monday night. Attempts by NorthEscambia.com to reach Van Nevel by email this week have been unsuccessful.

At a May meeting of the Century Town Council, council member Henry Hawkins expressed outrage that Van Nevel was trying to sell the building “out from under our noses”. At the council’s next meeting in June, Van Nevel addressed the council, asking for a retraction on that statement, and he claimed that he held a “clear title” on the building.

Van Nevel told the council in June (pictured left) that he had been trying to sell the building since 2003. NorthEscambia.com discovered that a Pensacola MLS real estate listing for the building was placed by the real estate agent on February 5, just a few months prior.

Hawkins and Van Nevel ended up in a verbal altercation before that June 2 council meeting was over.

“It sounds crooked to me,” Hawkins said of the building sale.

“You are trying to damage my business,” Van Nevel said to Hawkins. “You are trying to boot me out of town.” Van Nevel accused Hawkins of going to the fire department in an attempt to get the fire marshal to fine or close the business. Hawkins denied the allegation.

“The thing that was most damaging was…when you said the asking price was too high,” Van Nevel said of a Hawkins interview with a television station.

“I think you are adding to what I said,” Hawkins said. “Do you want me to get the tape?”

“I said it looked crooked, and it is crooked,” Hawkins said, escalating the argument between the two men.

“You are corrupt. I will prove it. You have an ulterior motive to boot me,” Van Nevel said. “There will be an investigation.”

“Bring it on,” Hawkins said.

In February, NorthEscambia.com ran a three part investigative series looking at Van Nevel, Helicopter Technologies, the federal raid, the Louisiana helicopter crash and more. Click here to read part one, click here to read part two, and click here to read part three.

You can read our story about the federal raid by clicking here.

Pictured top of page: Inside the Helicopter Technologies building in Century. NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

Comments are closed.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News